The Powerful Prose book review series will continue with a presentation at 6:30 p.m. April 23 on the book, “The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism”by Doris Kearns Goodwin. The presentation is free to the public and will be held at Full Circle Bookstore in 50 Penn Place, 1900 Northwest Expressway.

Oklahoma City University President Robert Henry and OCU history professor emeritus Lloyd Musselman will discuss the book.

“The Bully Pulpit” centers on the friendship of Roosevelt and Taft, which dramatically disintegrated when both men vied for the U.S. presidential nomination. While their personal confrontation ensued, several political flashpoints like a paralyzed legislature, a dramatically increasing wealth gap between the rich and poor, a growing influence of money over politics and other national issues were dominating newspaper headlines. Meanwhile, the muckraking press took on a cause against robber barons and corrupt politicians, arousing a spirit of reform.

Goodwin, who also wrote chronicles of the Civil War and World War II, used many primary materials in writing about these tumultuous domestic times, including more than 400 letters between Roosevelt and Taft. “The Bully Pulpit” was named one of the best books of the year by The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Economist and other publications. The Associated Press said the book tells “a tale so gripping that one questions the need for fiction when real life is so plump with drama and intrigue.”

“Powerful Prose: Great Ideas and the Literature that Advances Them” is a monthly series led by Henry and Oklahoma City University professors. All presentations are free to the public.